Everlasting Light - A Civil War Romance Novella Read Online Free Page A

glance in that direction this bright morning and, instead, found comfort in the thud of another burned-out tree trunk as it hit the ground. It meant she wouldn’t have to see the charred orchard. Scarred as it was, the farmland showed signs of recovery.
    “Lain! Lain!”
    Hearing the excitement in Michael’s voice, she dropped the quilt back into the basket and ran to meet him.
    “What is it?” She hoped he had news about Braeden.
    “You’re not going to believe it! It’s a miracle.”
    “What? Tell me.”
    “I shot a buck this morning!”
    Alaina’s heart sank. “A buck, you say?” She forced enthusiasm into her voice.
    “Yes.” Michael threw his head back and laughed heartily. “I didn’t think there was a wild animal alive this side of the Mississippi. But there he was this morning, standing proud as you please just a few feet away from where I’ve been working on the house. I grabbed my gun and shot him dead with a single bullet. Me! With only one arm!”
    “How wonderful.” Alaina fought back the tears of disappointment. For a fraction of a moment, she’d been certain Michael was bringing her news about Braeden, that he was alive and well and on his way home to her. She swallowed the sudden lump of emotion. “I’ll fetch Papa McKenna. He’ll help you skin it.”
    “No, that’s all right. I can fetch him myself. Where is he?”
    “Over yonder, by the peach trees … what used to be the orchard anyway.”
    Michael gave her a parting grin before turning on his heel. Once he was on his way, Alaina returned to hanging out the bedding. She tamped down the urge to weep and forced herself to look at the bright side. A buck was definitely a blessing. Why couldn’t she be happy for Michael? Surely he’d share the meat and they would all eat well for the next couple of weeks. As if in line with her musings, her father-in-law strode up the path toward the house, shouting his exuberance.
    “Ellie! Ellie! It’s too good to be true!”
    Mama McKenna walked out onto the back porch and stood with hands on her slim hips. “I declare, Jonathan, you’ll wake the dead with all this commotion!”
    “Get out your best kettle, woman!” A grin split across his face. “Michael killed a buck this morning, and I suddenly have a taste for venison stew.”
    “Hmph. Is that all?” Mama McKenna lifted her chin indignantly, but Alaina could tell the older woman was just as anxious to cook a hearty meal as the men were to eat one.
    “Now, Ellie …”
    She smiled. “I shouldn’t jest. This is a blessing, to be sure.”
    Giving her an affirming nod, Papa McKenna and Michael set out across the barren pasture, heading for the Wheeler place. Before the war, there were four strapping, young Wheeler brothers and their widowed father on the neighboring farm, but Michael’s siblings were killed, one by one, in various battles. Michael’s father died of a broken heart, according to Mama McKenna, and Alaina figured the diagnosis was probably accurate. She understood how broken-heartedness could be fatal.
    With the bedding on the line, she wandered around the house to the front porch. Every ounce of energy she possessed evaporated. Sitting down on the steps which were badly in need of paint, she thought about Michael’s marriage proposal. True, he was kind, handsome, and a hard worker.
    But he wasn’t Braeden.
    She leaned her cheek against the wooden railing and stared off into the distance. The twittering of a tiny bird in a surviving palmetto tree reached her ears, and then she heard something else.
    Singing.
    Alaina strained to hear, only to realize the low, smooth-sounding voice crooning “Dixie’s Land” was getting closer by the moment.
    “O’ I wish I was in da land o’ cotton, ol’ times dar am not forgotten, look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie’s Land.”
    Alaina stood and ran down the walkway to the road. She peered to her left and saw the gleaming, dark face of a man in a white shirt and bedraggled,